The present invention relates generally to expansion PC cards used to expand the functional capabilities of a host device. More particularly, embodiments of the present invention relate to an improved PC card having a physical configuration enhances the operational flexibility of the card when used with other PC cards in the host device.
Advances in the power and sophistication of computer application software, operating systems, communications software, and peripheral devices have required the development of computers with greater processing speeds and capacities. At the same time however, the pressure to at least maintain, and preferably reduce, the physical size of the computer and its various components has increased as well. Accordingly, downsizing and miniaturization of computer components is an issue of great importance in the industry.
To that end, manufacturers have developed an increasing number of miniature portable expansion devices to add functionality to host devices. One example of these expansion devices are known as xe2x80x9cPC cards.xe2x80x9d Examples of such PC cards include cards that increase the memory storage of a host; cards that provide for xe2x80x9cwiredxe2x80x9d communications, such as modem cards and network interface cards; and cards that provide for wireless communication. The typical PC card was designed to plug into a port, slot, or socket in the host device. As a result, PC cards serve to expand the power and functional capability of the host device without significantly increasing the size of the physical envelope of the host.
Increasingly, such expansion devices are built in accordance with prescribed physical and electrical standards, so as to insure compatibility from one manufacture to another. For example, a number of manufacturers collaborated to fom the Personal Computer Memor y Card International Association (PCMCIA), which specifies standards for the physical design, dimensions, and electrical interface of PC cards. For example, PCMCIA standards provide for, among other things, Type I, Type II, and Type III form factors (hereinafter the xe2x80x9cType I,xe2x80x9d Type II,xe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cType IIIxe2x80x9d standards, as applicable) wherein each form factor is characterized by specific dimensional attributes. Generally, the length and width characteristics of all PC cards conforming to PCMCIA standards are the same. More specifically, all PC cards conforming to such standards are 85.6 millimeters long and 54 millimeters wide. The distinguishing physical characteristic among the various PCMCIA form factors is the thickness of a particular PC card. In particular , Type I cards are 3.3 millimeters thick, Type II cards are 5.0 millimeters thick, and Type III cards are 10.5 millimeters thick.
PCMCIA standards also define the electrical interface requirements for both the card and the host device. A host device will typically include one or more PC card slots, having PCMCIA-defined electrical and physical interfaces. For example, a common configuration provides two adjacent slots, which each include a 68-pin connector for physically and electrically interfacing with the received PC card.
In the PCMCIA slot configuration of many host devices, PC cards having dissimilar form factors, such as a Type II card and a Type III card, cannot simultaneously reside in adjacent PCMCIA slots, due to the increased proximity of the 68-pin connectors and the height profile of the Type III card. This can limit a user""s ability to utilize multiple PC cards. For example, a xe2x80x9ccomboxe2x80x9d PC card that provides xe2x80x9cwiredxe2x80x9d communicationsxe2x80x94such as modem and LAN communicationsxe2x80x94may have integrated RJ-modular receptacles (e.g., RJ-11, RJ-45) that present a card height similar to a Type III thickness. Until now, the presence of such a card could preclude the simultaneous use of another Type II card, such as one that provides for wireless communications, in an adjacent slot. In this situation, the user must first physically remove the Type III card, and then insert the Type II card. Obviously, this is inconvenient, time consuming, and limits the functionality available to the host device at any given time.
The ability to utilize adjacent expansion cards is further limited when one of the cards requires a particular physical configurationxe2x80x94such as a PC card providing wireless communication functions. For example, if a card is residing in an adjacent slot, its presence may limit the ability to provide optimal antenna separation in a wireless PC card. In general, wireless PC card performance increases with antennae separation, so as to reduce so-called xe2x80x9cdead spotsxe2x80x9d of a wireless signal. Accordingly, where the antennae are disposed relatively close to each other, the effectiveness of the wireless PC card can be impaired. Furthermore, optimally the antennae should protrude from the front face of the host computer in order to be most effective. Both objectives are difficult to achieve, especially when another PC card is positioned within an adjacent slot.
In view of the foregoing problems and shortcomings, and others, with existing PC cards, it would be an advancement in the art to provide a PC card having a geometry sensitive to the operational considerations and performance requirements of other PC cards which may be used contemporaneously with the PC card in an adjacent slot. Further, embodiments of the improved PC card should be configured so that contemporaneous use with another PC card is possible even where such other PC cards have a form factor different than that of the combination PC card. Finally, embodiments of the improved PC card should include one or more full height connectors having bodies configured and arranged to permit simultaneous use of a wireless PC card in an adjacent PC card slot, but without imposing geometric or other restrictions on the wireless PC card that would impair its effectiveness and performance.
The present invention has been developed in response to the current state of the art, and in particular, in response to these and other problems and needs that have not been fully or adequately resolved by currently available expansion PC cards, and related cards that conform to a particular standard. Thus, it is an overall objective to provide a PC card that has a geometry sensitive to the operational considerations and performance requirements of other PC cards that are to be used simultaneously in a host device.
Embodiments of the present invention are well suited for use in 32 bit CardBus-compliant host devices having at least two adjacent electrical connectors. However, it will be appreciated that embodiments of the present invention may be suitable for use in conjunction with a variety of different types of host computers and/or with various other PC cards conforming to any of a number of other standards, form factors, or geometric configurations including, but not limited to, 16 PC Card standards.
In one embodiment of the present invention, a PC card is provided that includes a main housing portion having a geometry conforming to the PCMCIA Type II standard. Another portion of the housing exceeds the thickness specified by the Type II standard. For example, in the illustrated embodiment, the PC card includes two integrated RF-type modular connector receptacles, that exceed the Type H height limitations and present a height that approximates that of a Type III thickness. The connectors are positioned at the center of the front edge of the PC card. One of the connectors can be an RJ-11 type-modular receptacle for receiving a standard modular communications telephone plug. The other can be an RJ-45 type-modular receptacle for receiving a communications plug of the type typically employed when interfacing with local area networks (LAN). The PC card also includes electronic circuitry, for example, analog modem circuitry connected to the RJ-11 connector, and network interface circuitry connected to the RJ-45 connector. Both the analog modem and the network interface circuits are, in turn, connected to a PCMCIA standard 68 socket connector located at the rear of the PC card and configured to slidingly mate with a corresponding 68 pin computer or other electronic host device, such as a personal computer or the like.
In operation, the PC card is inserted in the PC card slot in the host computer so that the connector of the PC card is releasably engaged, physically and electrically, by the: connector in the PC card slot. In this way, electrical communication is established between the host computer and the PC card. The PC card, in turn, communicates with one or more remote devices and/or networks by way of the integrated RJ-11 and RJ-45 connectors. Moreover, the RJ-11 and RJ-45 connectors are positioned and orientated at the front end of the PC card in a manner so that an additional PC card can reside within an immediately adjacent slotxe2x80x94notwithstanding the presence of the integrated modular receptacles.
By way example, the additional complementary PC card preferably comprises a PC card with a housing that defines a structure that is complementary to that of the above-defined card. For example, in one embodiment, the complimentary card has a housing that defines a recess that accommodates the unique arrangement and positioning of the RJ-type receptacles of the adjacent PC card when the two cards are simultaneously positioned in adjacent PC card slots. In addition, the modular receptacles in the first card, and the recess in the other, are positioned, oriented and shaped so as to permit removal of one card, without necessitating the removal of the other PC card in the adjacent PC card slot.
Embodiments of the present invention serve a variety of useful purposes including, but not limited to, enhancing the overall operational flexibility of the host computer by allowing contemporaneous use of other PC cards which rely for their effective operation on particular geometric characteristics and considerations.
These and other objects and features of the present invention will become more fully apparent from the following description and appended claims, or may be learned by the practice of the invention as set forth hereinafter.